Flow control apparatus for wells



7 Nov. 22, 1932. I Y J. P. COLLINS FLOW CONTFOL APPARATUS FOR WELLSFiled Jan. 19, 1931 2 SheMs-Sheet i- I N V EN TOR. JOSEPH Farm/v CounvsATTORNEYS.

Nov. 22, 1932. .1. P. COLLINS FLOW CONTROL APPARATUS FOR WELLS FiledJan. 19. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet Patented Nov. 22

UNITED STATES JOSEPH PAY'roNooLLrNs, OFVTBAKERSFIELIVD, CALIFORNIA.

r' ow oorrriton APPARa'rUs Fora WELLS Application filed January 19,1931. seal in 509,801.

My invention relates to and has for a pur pose the provision of anapparatus by wh ch the flow of fluid from a gusher or wild well, can bereadily brought under control and the fluid held in check in such manneras to en- 0 character which embodies a carriage movable over the groundand supporting a plug-.

V arched longitudinally and-'secured'i'n i'nterable a control head orcap to be applied to the well casing with ease and dispatch;

v 1 It is a further purpose of my invention to provide an apparatus ofthe abovedescribed ging element capable of being readily 10W.

ered into thecasing to gradually check and finally arrest the flow offluid, and tobe then securedin the casing-so that. upon detaching" theplugging element from the apparatus,

thecasing can be threaded if necessary and a con l head or cap applied;a

I will describe Onlyone form of flow control appara us fOI-MWBHSL,embodying my invention, and, will thenpoint out the novel fea- Figure 8is an; enlarged Vertical sectional viewtaken on the line 3-3; of. Figure1 and looking in the direction of-the arrows, and

Figures 4, 5, and 6 are sectionalviews taken a respectively on thelines, 4- 4, 55, and 6 6 of Figure 3 and looking in the directlons ofthe respective arrows,

Referring specifically to the drawings in which similar referencecharacters ,desin gate similar parts ineach of the several views, myinvention in' ts, present embodiment coma I prises a carriageCconstructed'oit', a pair of spaced apart and parallel longitudinalmembers 1'0 and 11, and a pair of spaced apart and parallel transversemembers 12 and 13 secting relation to the longitudinal members by-bol'ts14 or other-*fastenin means; The

several members are preferab y constructed of -heavy; metal such as:discardedrail-road rails so as to produce acarrlage ofsuflicient.

weight tqv prevent-its beingrlilft'edl from the ground by the force ofa(5011mmejected from. a well undememe do s m a-1 H pressure.

One end of each longitudinal member qlt)" and 11, is curved upwardlyinthe manner of a sled runner and is connected toa-suita'ble PeT NM whauling cable "15 which isa'dapted to be attached to a tractor or otherhauling apparatus todrag thecarriageover the ground.- Other haulingcables 16 are connectedto the longitudinal members for pulling thecarriagelaterally, and facilitate in positioning thecarriage at apredetermined location with re:

spect to the mouth of a well casing K. e e a Secured to the members10;1'11and112,and rising from the carriage intermediate its ends are thelegs1'7 of a tripod T, the upper ends a of the legs being secured to asleeve 18 for coifiction Ofthe lgs with a brace member 19 b;

in rigidly supporting the sleeve vertically in[ a fixed andelevatedposition on the carriage.

The tripod" and sleeve broadly constitute a means for moun'ting'aclosure or plugging element: P on the carriagefor movement Ver ticallyto occupy either the raised position I shown in full lines in Figure-2wherein the element P isielevated from the ground, or the" loweredposition shown in Figure 3' and; in broken linesi-n Figure 2, whereinthe element is disposed in the casing K to plug the mouth of the latteragainst the escape of fluid from the casing. V

.Theplugging element P is in the form oit'an elongated andconical body20, the upper and larger end of whichlisiprovided axially with aneXternall-ythreaded shank 21 which isd'etachably secured to a similarshank 22 on a" feed/screw '23 by means: ofa'coupling collar 24. Thefeedscrew 23 is freely received: in

the" bore of the sleeve11 8andis restricted to longitudinal or verticalmovement in t'he sleeve by meansof: radial lugs 25011 the screw jwhichrtraverse longitudinally extending slots 26 formed atdiametrically'opposed pointsin 55 the sleeve.

A nut in.the'sformQofa 'bevel gearf 27 is threadedly mountedlonithefeedscrew 23 andl 28 cm the lower'end' of the sleeve1'8; againstdisplacement longitudinally of the screw "so that upon rotation ofthegear in one direction or. the other, the screw and hence the pluggingelement P will feed upwardly or downwardly. v I 1 A bevel pinion 29 isrotatably mounted on a stub shaft 30 secured in a boss 31 on the sleeve,and meshes with the gear 27,, the'pinion being retainedagainst.displacement aze ially of the shaft by means of a pin 32px- 1 otending through the hub of the pinion into an annular groove33'in'th'e-shaft. A flexible shaft 34 Wh: h mayextend any requireddistance from the carriage; is cone nected to .the pinion 29.by auniversal joint 7 35,: and constitutes a means'by' which the ipinion-29.can be rotated either manually or from afsuitable source of power (notshown),

to drivethe gear 27 and hence feed the plug f ging element-vertically asdesired,

.Slidable vertically in longitudinally eX tending dovetail grooves 86formed at circumferentially spacedlocationsin the conical body20 of theplugging element, are slips 37 having lugs 38 in which arejournaled the5 reduced extensions 39 of feed, shafts 40.

threaded inthe bodyas shown in Figure3.

I In the present instance three slips are shown and are retained againstaxial displacement from the respective feed shafts 40 by nuts o 41 onthe extensions 39 of the shafts, to the end that upon rotating thelatter in one. direction or the other the slips will be. movedlongitudinally of the'body to occupy either, the contracted positionshown in full lines;in

313 Figure2, wherein the slips aredisposed withf in the largestdiameter'ofthe body, or. the ex--;

pandedpositionshown in broken" lines inthis figure, wherein the. slipsproject beyond the largest] diameter of the. body into engagement 4 31'with the inner wallof the casingK, to fixedly I {secure the pluggingelement finthe'casing against displacement under fluid pressure withinthe casing.

' The, feed shafts can ,7 of the required length capable ,of beingextended into the casing to reach the plugging i the feedshafts 40 whichprojects from the body 20 and is of an angular form corre-'* sp'ondingto that-of the socket as indicated 'at l l. v

asfollows: j a

The apparatus with the plugging element 'P occupying the raised positionshown'in'full 1 lines'in Figure 2 and with the slips 37 oc--- icupyingthe contracted positions shown in fulljlinesfin-Figure 3,. is drawnioverthe 7 ground by the'hauling cables to a position in which the pluggingelementis directly above the well casing K from which a column ofbeactuated by means 45' of ,a suitable tool such as a handled rod 42Theuse and operation of the apparatus is The column of in striliing'theclined surfaces of the conical body 20 will til theelement enters thecasing and voccupies'the positionshown in brokenlinesin' f-Figure 2 landin fulllines in Figure 3. As.

the element enters the casing, it will be clear that due t o-theconical-form of the body- 20, Y

the. fiowg and'velocity of the fluid. will be? smoothly and graduallychecked. As-lthe} largest diameter of thebody 20 is but slight? ly lessthan the internahdiamet'er'of the casing,'there .will be verylittle-escape of fluid around the element. 1 The slips 371 are now.expan is applied to theangular portions l l of the ed' by means of thehandled rod42,the socket'of' which 1 I Y feed shafts 40 and the latterrotated until the slips become-tightly jammed against the in.

ner wall of the casing-to thus fixedly secure the-plugging element inthe casing" againstd-isplacement 'by internal pressure. The

coupling collar 24 can-now 'bemunscrejwedl and thus-permit the apparatusto be moved away. from the casing and a-cap or control head to beapplied to-the-casing as desir'ed.

As the plugging element is disposed wholly within the casing, threadscan be readily from the shank Ql of the body 20 to detach" I theplugging element from the feed screw 23" out upon the latter should thisbe necessary in order to apply acontrol head or p t c casing; I

Although I I out departing from-the'spiritof the invention claims.

I claim and the spirit and scope of, the appen d;

ment vertically and'having a closure element longitudinally of thescrew, and means for have herein' shown and; Ile- V scribed only oneform of flow control ap .paratus for wells embodying my invention, it'isto be understood that variouschan'ges and modifications may be madetherein with-f 1. A flow controliapparatus for wells cornprising a.carriage movable overthe'ground, a sleevesupported vertically on thecarriage,- a feed screw mounted in the sleeve for move-I,

for the well. casing secured? thereto,n ieans* for preventing rotationof the feed screw'in rotating the nut to.- feedsaid screw in .i'thefsleeve and thereby raise or. lower the closure element.

2.1 In a control apparatus for weuga JOSEPH PAYTON COLLINS.,

